The World Is Your Oyster……

….or rather your Poundland Swim Teacher aid but that’s not got quite the same ring to it really, has it?!

Hola, amigos? How the devil are you? Sorry I’ve been missing in action on here for a while – just been super busy trying to work out Instagram along with a fair few photo sessions which have been a-mazing (will get round to sharing those with you at some point so bear with!). Anyhoo, I have now arrived on the white isle for my 10 week stint swimming teaching and what-not and, as I have had so many lovely messages wishing me well and asking for regular updates, I thought I’d just write a little update post about my first couple of days.

For those of you that may be new to my page and wondering what I’m waffling on about, the long and short of it is I got myself a lil summer job with Ibiza Swim teaching swimming in Ibiza for the summer #pinchmeisthisforreal. How did this happen is probs the most common question I get asked about this fact so I’ll fill you in. The first thing to note is Mr W and I sold our house in March 2016 and bought an apartment in Ibiza – some might call it a midlife crisis, I prefer to see it as a complete epiphany and the best decision we ever made! Following on from that, I started Life Coaching sessions with Lydia to try and work out what the hell I was going to do with my life after the bombshell of infertility and numerous failed IVF cycles and the first things Lydia & I talked about were:

a) what did my ideal day look like (abridged answer : waking up in Ibiza); and

b) what parts of your job do you actually enjoy (answer : teaching and helping make life easier for people).

This then led to me divulging that in a former life I’d been a swimming teacher for 10 years. A job I had found incredibly rewarding but decided to give up when I got my previous role (the digit-ninja job I left at Christmas) as I just didn’t think I’d have the capacity for both. With that nugget of info, Lydia set me on my way with homework of researching swimming teaching in Ibiza (amongst other things!) and that’s when I came across Ibiza Swim. And I remember looking at the site in awe of the life that Ruth, the owner, had created for herself and thinking how absolutely wonderful it must be to teach in the sun! It took me back to being in Los Angeles watching my niece’s swim lessons in an open air pool where I had said to myself (in my head!) how amazing it must be to teach – and learn – in that environment. I reported back to Lydia that I’d found the website and her response? E-mail her. Ask her about opportunities. I shuddered and rebuked that I couldn’t possibly do that as I already had a job (at the time, a job I did not envisage leaving I might add!) so it’d be wasting her time. But Lydia wouldn’t take no for an answer and said that by e-mailing I wasn’t committing to anything but that it may just open up the opportunity for a few hours teaching whenever we were over on our holidays so it would be good to connect. So, not one to flunk my homework, I emailed, with a nervous feeling in my tummy, wondering what Ruth would make of this email out of the blue……yet she responded the very same day and said she’d love to meet me! It took us 12 months or so to actually find a time to meet up and guess what? By the time we did, I’d handed my notice in at work and she was looking to recruit a teacher for summer 2018. Yet another crazy example of the stars aligning and the universe doing what it does best! And, so my friends, the rest if history and here I am, sat in Ibiza, having already taught my very first lessons for Ibiza Swim!

So for those interested in knowing how it’s going, I’m not going to lie, I arrived in Ibiza on Saturday with Pru ringing loud and clear in my ears, feeling very anxious and nervous, questioning my ability. You know, the usual (insert rolling eyed emoji here!). I then met up with my lovely boss, Ruth, on the Sunday morning, ready to shadow my very first lessons. First school boy error – I got in to my car to follow her to the lesson……but got in the passenger seat. D’oh! Spot the English girl! I think I got away with it though as I didn’t see anyone around as I got back out and in to the driving seat. Lol! After that small blip, I made it to the lesson. First accomplishment of the day? Getting straight in the pool without mincing about for half an hour! Rather proud of that (as was Mr W when I told him!)! And the lesson itself was amazing – 2 beautiful brothers and an equally beautiful villa and pool. The knot in my tummy was slowly starting to unravel. After that, I observed another 2 lessons, this time with 2 sisters, and I just wanted to dive right in the pool and teach them too!

And so today was my first time flying (or rather, swimming) solo. I made the lesson in plenty of time…..only to go to the wrong villa next door which wouldn’t have been quite so embarrassing had it not been for the myriad of people milling about said villa waiting for taxis, witnessing me struggle to get my trusty Panda Pop back up the steep drive, including a stalling incident and me gesticulating at the taxi driver blocking the entrance to pull forward only to find out I was talking to the passenger and the taxi driver was nowhere to be seen! Anyhoo, I managed to squeeze the Panda Pop through the minute gap that was left and, swim kit in arms, walked to the correct villa where I was welcomed by the most lovely family and their adorable little son who was quite the fish when it came to swimming. The half an hour lesson flew by and before I knew it, I’d done it. I’d done my very first lesson in Ibiza and the knot in my tummy, although still there, was feeling looser and my heart was literally bursting. I think I can honestly say this is going to be the best summer, even if I have had to leave my beloved moggy behind for 10 weeks *sob*.

So I guess, other than to say “so far, so good”, my message to anyone deliberating something – anything at all – don’t overthink it. Nothing is forever. Sometimes things will work out, sometimes they won’t. But JUST DO IT! The world really is your oyster. And you just never know where it might lead.

If you’re interested in swimming lessons in Ibiza, contact jinny@ibizaswim.com for more information and you might just get me turn up to your villa – I mean, what more could you want?!